trying to reach a deal. the jobs report comes out in two hours. it gives us a look at the economic recovery, but how accurate will the numbers be in the wake of hurricane sandy? the nfl commissioner is considering eliminating the kick off ya in football games. would it make the game safer. >> coy wire is a sports analyst. chad sweet is a former cia director of operations. and ken baer is a white housed a virus. todd carmichael is the host of dangerous grounds. howard kurtz will join us. and economic diane swonk rounds things out for us today. "starting point" begins right now.

good morning. welcome, everybody. let's begin with developing news this morning. a tsunami threat to tell you about was just lifted in japan. the country was rocked by a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake. it hit off the coast of tokyo. the buildings there shaking. you could see some of the video showing the degree to which they were shaking. alex, what's the latest? >> reporter: it has been a very, very tense few hours here in japan after you mentioned a 7.3 magnitude earthquake striking late here in the day on friday. but just in the past 90 minutes or so, the all clear has been given. the tsunami warning has been lifted. that's great news for the people here. there's no signs of any significant damage. no reports of any deaths. just a few injuries at this point. we also have to keep in mind the nuclear power plants. we have heard from the operator

of those. they say everything is fine. but as you mentioned, this brings back very painful memories up for the people in the region in northern japan. we were on the phone with one person who said when this earthquake hit, their first reaction was ohno, not again. but it's late here on friday in tokyo where we are. everything appears to be fine. just one wave came ashore. just three feet in height. >> alex, that's the area, i spent a lot of time there covering the tsunami. that's a terrifying thing for those focus. now it's up to two men to try to keep america from going over the fiscal cliff. 25 days and counting from the massive tax hikes and spending cuts. congress breaking in a week for the holiday. so john boehner trying to simplify things. he's asking top democrats and

republica republicans to step aside so he can negotiate with the president one-on-one. it seems to be a request that everyone was able to live with. brianna keilar is live for us at the white house. if this is the case that everybody has been cleared out of the room, does that surprise you? it seems to make sense to me. >> reporter: it's not surprising at all. this is what observers of this process thought would happen all along. ultimately this was a process that would come down to president obama and house speaker john boehner brokering a deal. very much the way you saw they attempted to do during the debt ceiling debacle last year. it simplifies the problem of less cooks in the kitchen. then they will have to sell it. president obama would have to bring in democrats. john boehner would have to bring in his republicans and make sure everyone is on board. this comes on the heels of what has really been radio silence between the white house and house republicans.

we found out yesterday, we were told by both sides that the lines of communication are back open on the staff level. i will tell you that's kind of fun funny to anyone here covering all this because normally the lines of communication are always open, but that was news yesterday. >> sad thing. it's all relative. let me ask you about what seemed to be a crazy thing that senator mitch mcconnell was trying to do that ended up backfiring on him pretty badly. >> reporter: some theatrics. the debt ceiling, it's set to be hit in january or february. that's complicating the fiscal cliff discussions. mitch mcconnell yesterday proposed a vote on a measure that would give the president the authority to increase the debt ceiling without congressional input. this is something that the white house has proposed as part of

their fiscal cliff proposal. it's a nonstarter for republicans. but he wanted to put it on the floor to show that even democrats don't support giving the president that kind of authority. he did that and harry reid turned around and said, let's see if we can do it with a simple majority for 51 votes and democrats it appeared had made sure they had that and then mitch mcconnell in return ended up objecting to the very thing he propose eed. take a listen. >> now the republican leader objects his own idea. i guess we have a filibuster of his own bill. >> so this was some maneuvering that went on. mitch mcconnell won the day when he proposed a vote overall on the entire fiscal cliff proposal and harry reid objected to it. it's a little bit of a back and forth going on in the midst of these talks that are now reopened. >> you can't filibuster your own bill.

that makes no sense. >> apparently you can. >> thank god it's friday. thank you. we appreciate the update. other stories making news that are not all crazy. >> i have some craziness. we're watching the situation in egypt where opponents of mohamed morsi are gathering. the crowds are set to be calm. activists are determined to keep up the pressure and refused to descend the decree granting himself powers. his government has lost legitimacy. union supporters in michi n michigan -- they are headed to the governors desk. final approval could come next week. it would make michigan the 24th right to work state in the nation.

chris christie explains his change of heart of president obama. check out what he told jon stewart on "the daily show." >> people have different skill sets at different times. >> so he wasn't a leader until you needed leadership? >> maybe until he was presented with a stark opportunity. >> "thursday night football" the denver broncos beat the oakland raiders 26-13. that's eight straight wins for the broncos. one sad note. a fan fell from the top deck of the coliseum during that game. he is hospitalized and he is in serious condition. it's a dreadful thing. >> certainly hope he can recover. that's terrible. let's turn and talk about a story we chatted about yesterday. the cover story for "time"

magazine. we were talking about it and that was the picture. that's the commissioner talking about some of the ways he was hoping to reform the sport of football so it has less of a toll on the athletes. among the ideas on the table were doing away with kickoffs, which are seen to be one of the most dangerous elements of the game. it's only a suggestion at this point, but people immediately upon reading that started debating the issue. want to get to coy wire, he's a sports analyst and former line backer and he's in atlanta this morning. it's nice to have you with us. we appreciate it it. >> thank you for having me. >> i get this is very preliminary, but if this is something they wanted to do, was seriously on the table, would you support that? >> i would. i think it's necessary with as the game evolves, the players are getting bigger, faster stronger, and all we're learning with the health risks, it's

necessary to change. the thing that people must realize is that the game from its beginnings has always been in a state of evolution to make it better. >> they moved kickoffs from the 30 yard line to 35. they discovered a correlation, pretty strong correlation with fewer concussions. that's what has led to this being on the table now. >> you're good. you know your stuff. that's right. they moved it to the 35 yard line. and the percentage of touchbacks, a kick that can't be returned went up to 43%. but also the number of concussions on that kickoff play went down 40%. that's huge. we need that right now with all we're finding with concussions. it's all about the evolution of the game. you look at where the game is now, when it came out in england, it was just a form of rug by. then in the early 1900s, president theodore roosevelt said e we need to make changes

to the game because players are getting injured. >> they did. they made changes because they had to. there are commentators who say change is bad. dean simon said i'm a favor of adjusting the game for safety, but don't remove one of the most exciting parts of the football game. fans love to see the returns. it always gets people excited. he goes on and on. it's not just a change, it's ""change in his opinion. >> there will still be a commencement to the game. and punt returns are exciting too. that's just as exciting. especially now with the touchback percentage. the unreturnable kicks have gone up to 43%. so maybe we should find a way to make it safer, but still be able to have a kicking phase of the game. so it's not eliminating injuries, it's just about making smart changes that will injury

the catastrophic injuries. >> i would never let my kids play if it doesn't get safer. coy wire, nice to have you with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. still ahead, reports that syria is loading chemical weapons has the whole world on edge. what does it mean for u.s. action? we'll talk to chad sweet. he's the former director of operations with the cia to update us. and president clinton and first lady michelle obama competing for votes for an award. and business news. >> big day. jobs report. we're awaiting for the monthly jobs report in a couple hours. we'll find out what it means for the health of our economy later this morning. you're watching "starting point." the all-new cadillac ats to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series.

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unemployment and 77,000 jobs added. that's slower growth than in recent months. it's likely that hurricane sandy dampened the numbers. the weather events made it difficult for them to collect the data. so the jobs numbers will see the effects of the storm. could be revised later. stocks are down this morning after closing higher yesterday. the jobs report will probably drive the action on wall street today. >> it will be interesting to see what happens. also this morning russia saying they will join the united states for a brainstorming meeting to try to end the bloodshed in syria. nato is going forward with a plan to move troops to the border. but bashar al assad continues to deny pressure. reports say they are preparing chemical weapons components that

might be used against rebel forces inside syria. chad sweet is the former director of operations with the cia, the former chief of staff with the department of homeland security. it's nice to have you with us. i should appreciate it. so the signs that i have just mentioned and kind of listed there are very ominous. not just for folks here in the united states who worry about the role of the united states, but also for people in the region and outside the region too. does this mean that we have operatives who are filling us in on what's happening with the chemical weapons components and the degree to which they are being put on to these war heads? >> it's highly likely that the combination of sources have provided this intelligence. some of it is coming from human intelligence from our spies as well as allies of the saudis and the turkish intelligence. but the bottom line is it's coming from a variety of technical means.

signal intelligence. the signs are pointing towards some type of mobilization where the chemicals are being locked and loaded on bombs that shows intent to use them. >> how reliable is this information? we're talking about the approach to the red line. so how certain are we of what we're seeing and the information we're getting? >> it's always difficult to know the intent of your adversary. that's part of the function of the intelligence. however, it's unlikely the president of the united states, the secretary of defense and secretary of state would be making such forceful statements unless there was a high degree of confidence in the intelligence community that the potential for the use of these weapons is quite high. >> in egypt it's remarkable how the arab spring is still springing, i guess. it was interesting to hear what morsi was saying. he went from the same script talking about how these are infiltrators and the protesters

are paid. this is terrorism. it seemed like the same thing that mubarak would have said in a similar situation. how does this end for him? he has high level defections left and right. >> morsi is trying to hold together what is obviously a coalition and as you noted, any time there's pressure on a regime, the attempt to portray opponents as outside forces or unpatriotic is a common technique. but that's also the exact reason why ast sad -- i'm sorry in syria may have used the weapons which is you portray your opposition as someone as an outsider is being unpatriotic. so assad could use chemical weapons against them. he doesn't see them as part of the actual syrian people. morsi is in the same situation.

he will have to take measures on the security side to hold this together. this could be a sign that he's beginning to lay the groundwork for more aggressive securi measures. >> chad sweet joining us this morning, also the former cia director of operations, nice to have you with us. we appreciate it it. still ahead on "starting point," how much -- what would it take for you to go hunting for pythons in florida? >> no amount of money. >> $5,000? florida has a new contest and it's kind of gross op our "starting point" team is walking in to talk about that. come on. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. i. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport.

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22 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "starting point." there's a grammy battle brewing. obama versus clinton. they are both up for a grammy in the best spoken word album. 2, 1. >> the first lady joined her husband to light the 28-foot blue spruce christmas tree. it was transplanted days before hurricane sandy before made it. in case you're wondering, this year's white house holiday card is all about bo. the card was designed by an iowa artist and dog lover. that's too cute. >> you can't go wrong if you put your pets or your kids on a card. >> do you put yourself?

>> never. >> just kids? >> just kids. >> the white house christmas card is a big deal. when you're on the white house staff, you get a special version of it. people frame it. this is a beautiful card. i love it. >> our team this morning weigh in on the important topic of the annual christmas card for the white house. will cain, cnn contributor. richard socarides, a writer for new yorker.com. this is kind of a disgusting story about snake hunts. not snakes on a plane exactly, but more like this. >> enough is enough. i have had it with these [ bleep ] snakes on this [ bleep ] plane. >> because he's mad. they are mad too in florida, even though they are not on a

plane e. it's snakes in the everglades. they are killing the ecosystem. they have a plan to aword $1,500 to whoever whoever gets the most. the question is what could go wrong? >> have you never seen this movie? this is the best movie ever. bad acting. i'll give you that. but awesome movie. it's a movie. and not even a good one. >> it sounds like you have seen it a couple times. >> that's classic for her. >> that was a python. >> he's making that obvious statement. that's a python. in the green room, the question was?

>> what's a python? >> you had no idea? >> i thought they were talking about "monte python." >> you didn't know? >> down to the florida python challenge. you should kill a python. >> in all seriousness, they are these big snakes. one of them ate a 76-pound deer e. think about that. >> whole in the belly of the python. >> how are they going to kill these pythons? they encourage them to shoot them in the head or use a machete. >> all these people converge in with guns and machetes. >> the gun control laws in florida, this is the perfect combination. out of control python population and lacks gun control laws. >> and cameras rolling of course. >> maybe a reality show will be based on this. >> i thought that was a good

idea. talking about the gun stories out of florida. this is a good way to use your gun. control the python and make some money on the side. the president and speaker boehner are working on a deal on the fiscal cliff. but there's one man who says it's all about the baby boomers. a former white house senior adviser says without that impact, you're never going to get anywhere. plus senator colbert, a new push to get him into washington politics. talk about that ahead.

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when you see these problems do you take a step back, or do you want to dive right in? with a degree in business from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to go further in your career than you ever thought possible. let's get started at capella.edu welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." michigan with a long and storied union history could become the next right to work state. republicans pushed through legislation and drew angry protests from democrats. the governor says he's going to

sign the right to work measure when he hits his desk next week. poppy harlow is in michigan for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. this is michigan. this is the birthplace of the united auto workers. this is the heart of the labor movement. all that is in question this morning. what i can tell you is that three bills passed, two in the senate, one in the house, late yesterday that would make this a right to work state. it would be illegal for unions and employers to mandate that employees join the union or they pay the dues to the union. that could mean less money for the union. that means less power at the bargaining table. less of an ability to compel people to join the union. this not only would apply to public sector workers, it would apply to those workers that worked for ford, gm, chrysler, all of the unions here. so protesters here are storming through the halls of this state

capital in lansing yesterday. i want you to take a listen to what one protester said. >> it terrifies me they are trying to pass this through with no discussion from the other side. no understanding of what's important in it. >> reporter: the union members that were protesting chanting things like "union busting is disgusting." it did not go through public debate, but the republican mayor here insists that this is beneficial for the workers. here's his take. >> to give freedom of choice to our workplace and that legislators move promptly and efficiently in moving it through the legislature and when it arrives on my desk, i plan on signing it. >>. the data shows it's right to work for less. it's an effort by the wealthy,

by people like the right wing that they want to push workers wages and benefits down. >> reporter: that coming from the head of the united auto workers here. a labor lawyer i spoke with said this is hugely significant. also said this is devastating for the labor movement. >> so it sounds like it's a done deal. is there anything that could stop it from the protesters point of view? >> reporter: the house is trying to get a reconsideration of the bill. but even if that happens, the house and senate do have one version of the bill that's the same. so if they both pass that, which is likely going to happen, they are republican controlled and it will be on the governors desk. and the argument here by republicans, by the governor is this will make this state more competitive when it comes to jobs. therefore, create more jobs. the democrats and unions don't buy that. but right next door in indiana, they recently passed similar

legislation making it right to work and the argument is they don't want to see the jobs go there. they want them here in michigan. i can't overstate how significant this is especially in a state like michigan for all the workers here that are unioni unionized. >> poppy harlow in michigan, thank you. we have a look at some of the other stories making news. >> the u.s. navy is moving warships into position to monitor a possible launch. they are guided missile destroyers. the navy won't reveal their act locations. images reveal north carolina appears to be working towards a launch later this month. the attorney for george zimmerman who is charged with killing trayvon martin refuses to say he won't go that route to avoid a murder trial. >> no. i wouldn't plea somebody who is innocent to anything. so i think the answer is easily

no. >> zimmerman is suing nbc for defamation. the network edited his 911 call to make him sound racist. nbc says there was no intent to portray him unfairly. three employees were fired over that. john mcafee faces extradition again. he was rushed to the hospital in guatemala city yesterday after learning that his bid for asylum was declined. he's wanted for questioning in the murder of his neighbor. he once ran for president of the united states of south carolina. now stephen colbert for senate? someone has already created a twitter account and scooped up the colbert for senate website. he actually can't run.

>> and she would be insane to appoint him. right? >> i think he really lives in new jersey. >> well there's that. >> thank you. 25 days until we fall off of the fiscal cliff. a new glimmer of hope that maybe a deal is in the works. president obama and speaker john boehner are meeting one-on-one trying to hash out a fiscal cliff deal before the end of the year. clearly that's the deadline. no other leaders in the room though. just the two of them. there are sources that confirm that staff members on both sides resumed talking on thursday as well. will those talks go anywhere? mr. baer is a managing director of the harbor group and he's with us this morning. thank you for being with with us. >> good morning. >> i'm trying to decide if this meeting is a good idea for a bad idea. on the good side f you move all the noise and the debate and the

extra people in the room and bring the two main people to sit down and hash it out, that could be a good thing. >> it is a good sign. that's how this deal is going to be done e. that's how it was done last s summer how we avoided government shutdown last spring. there's a lot of staff work that has to be done. what's speaker boehner's position and can he bring along enough members to pass a big deal. >> that kind of brings me to the downside of keeping everybody out is that you have to sell this to everybody eventually. there's some people who said jeff sessions called it secret talks that violate the principle of american government that would be open to every city. you're not supposed to be meeting in secret. why doesn't the american people know what it is the president would like to see as the financial future? and i get his point. at some point, don't you need the light of day on this?

>> it's not good for the negotiation. the truth is the president has put forward a balanced plan with detail object how to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion to put us in a sustainable fiscal path. that's out there. speaker boehner has put out some things he wants, but there has to be frank discussions. whatever deal there is has to come up for a vote in the congress. that's when you have a debate over the contours of any plan. i think senator sessions is trying to cause a little mischief there. >> so a lot of democrats are saying that no big deal if you go over the fiscal cliff. it seems like republicans are moving towards giving in on the tax rates. might even just vote on the tax portion of the negotiations and kick the rest into january to deal with. if you get a deal on the taxes that president obama seems like

he would sign, what happens to the government on the second half of the cliff, the sequester and other extenders? you were at omb. can the government deal with that? can we be okay? >> there's a lot of ifs. republicans don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. they want to pass a bill to prevent increase on rates on the middle class. that would be a good thing. if we got past january 3rd and the sequester went into effect, there are a ways to move through money in accounts where you can buy a few weeks. that's an important thing to do. now don't get me wrong. there would still be a huge impa impact. i don't know what the markets would do. wall street is in a mind if we go past january 3rd, we will fall off the cliff. and secondly, there are people who rely on unemployment benefits and who also could be

thrown off those roles because those aren't extended. people would feel that immediately. only a few dollars for a few weeks, but there would be some effects. but there's a way to mitigate this for the first few weeks. >> so say you go over the cliff for a few days and start to solve -- kick the sequester down the road. if you're running one of these agencies, though, you have to be making these decisions right now. omb is saying prepare for the cuts. that's a very difficult position to be in when you have -- when you literally have mouths to feed pr some of these agencies and people that need to get paid. >> that's right. i don't think you can buy six months. it's something you could buy a few weeks. make no mistake, going over the

cliff would be a very bad thing for this country. it would be -- not only on pure impacts on economics, but it would send a bad signal to the world. people want to follow a balanced path. this is nothing taken lightly. but arkansmageddon happens on january 4th. >> ken baer, associate director of the office of management and budget. it's nice to have you with us. we appreciate your time. >> thanks. still ahead, the nfl commissioner might get rid of a traditional part of football games. would it make games safer? then this man is the indiana jones, if you will, of the coffee world. todd carmichael has a show

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." could you imagine the nfl without kickoffs? roger goodell is said to be considering the move as a matter of safety. because it's a serious issue. does it make the game safer? do you minimize the number of concussions, which is what it's all about. we talked to coy wire, he's an analyst and also played for nine years in the nfl. he said this to me earlier. >> as the game evolves, the players are getting bigger, faster, stronger. the sheer physics of the games

are changing. it's necessary to change. when change is necessary, not to change is destructive. the thing that people must realize is the game from its beginnings has always been in a state of evolution to make it better. >> listen, you know what i know about football can fit on the head of a pin. i watch it sometimes with my husband. but he watches football. not me. the thing is for my kids, i actually am very worried about this. i care about concussions for small children and as they go through middle school and high school, i don't want my son to 30 years from now be suffering from damage he suffered playing football. >> 40% of kickoffs right now aren't returned. the replacement is an interesting replacement. you'd start an your own 30 yard line. they would replace it with a fourth and 15 situation. you can punt or go for it. >> but that's less exciting is their point.

>> 40% of kickoffs being touchbacks, it's not an exciting moment. >> but it can be an exciting moment. everybody loves football, but it's gotten too dangerous. we hear the stories about the professional athletes having their lives ruined later on in their 30s and 40s. they are having these life-threatening debilitating injuries. these are stars. we shouldn't -- thunderstorm going to work should not kill them. >> quarterbacks are getting sacked. you can keep moving the ball down the field for all the other places. >> there's no middle ground here. they are trying to come up with some compromise where there isn't one. >> they know how dangerous the sport is. i kind of feel like you know what you're getting yourself into. >> i don't think we do. >> we have so much research now. boston research has done so much

on this. >> i don't think it's a fair choice to say. you can be an athlete but 30 years from now you're going to have a version of parkinson's. >> i don't think they will make it that safe. i don't. >> slippery slope is just stop playing football. >> did you just make the slippery slope argument on this show? >> once you start banning plays, you move to, okay, you can't sack the quarterback. >> i know a little bit about football. it's changed over time. the game shifts. we have to take a short break. still ahead on "starting point," he goes to incredible lengths to get the right cup of coffee. the perfect cup of coffee. his adventure, todd carmichael is going to join us why he risks his life to get good coffee. i see him drinking our coffee from the green room. welcome. it's nice to have you. we're back in a moment.

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i'm in search of a real coffee. i just need to survive the dangerous city streets. >> we have to [ bleep ] move it now. >> make it high up in the mountains and avoid coffee middle men. >> i'll be shot at? >> you're going into war. >> and find that bean that will become my next gold mine in exotic coffees. >> look at that. >> so our next guest has been described as the indiana jones of the coffee world. coffee producer and adventurer todd carmichael, whose

adventures take him to exotic places. and put him in dangerous situations sometimes and exciting places like madagascar. his documentaries are now documented in a new travel channel series called "dangerous grounds." and todd carmichael is with us this morning. seriously, have you lost your mind? like seriously. for a cup of coffee? >> for a cup of coffee. i know. it's such an innocuous, humble little drink, isn't it? there's a whole world behind it. you know, it's a beverage that has changed the planet in so many ways and has changed us as a people. it's our number one beverage. >> how can it be dangerous? you're literally running through some of those shots becau you need to get out of dodge fast. >> right. >> what's the dynamics that makes coffee sometimes dangerous? >> there are 80 different coffee growing countries around the planet, all right around the equator. some are beautiful and easy, like brazil. some, particularly those that are re-emerging, are

challenging. yemen is one of those countries where it's in conflict and once it comes out of conflict, the coffee guys will go back in and see what they can salvage and create new relationship with farmers. >> i have to guess the coffee industry and the drug industry, the cocaine industry have got to be intertwined. not only the countries you're going to, but it's often used as a mask iing agent. did you come into contact with cartels? >> yeah. central and south america, guerrilla groups are hiding in the mountains where the coffee is grown and often drug cartels. it's a big part of the job in those parts of the world. >> let me run a clip. you're in ethiopia, sleeping under a truck because you're trying to avoid robbers, which is bad. then it gets much worse. let's play that. >> that, my friend, guaranteed 100%. that is a male spotted hyena. hear that moan?

that moo? when a hyena eats an animal, it eats its hooves, teeth, skull. they do it while the animal is living. i'm telling you what, that is not a way to go. >> no kidding. >> yeah. >> what is the most dangerous situation you've ever found yourself in? >> couple of years ago, i think the worst was in angola and i got caught up in a riot, ended up getting stabbed, punctured my right lung. wrong place at the wrong time. i was very interested in the re-emergence of the country as a coffee country and came in a little too er, i think. >> what's the best cup of coffee you've come across? >> that is so not the best cup of coffee from the green room. >> i can't believe you're drinking this. the cnn coffee is not that great. >> are there health benefits to coffee? >> wait, wait. >> talk about dangerous grounds.

>> i'm risking my life. >> no hyenas, but it could really kill you. >> it depends on your taste buds. if you ask me what the best is -- let's say i was isolated on a desert island and i only got one coffee to pick. >> sounds like a good episode. >> exactly. don't give these people any ideas. it's ethiopia, the motherland of all coffees, where coffee was originally created, it evolved. and you'll find that some of the best countries come from that country. >> todd carmichael, the host of "dangerous grounds." got to take a break. still ahead on "starting point" in roughly 30 minutes, we're expecting those monthly job report numbers, full analysis for you and what it means for the economy, straight ahead. then we'll talk about an upcoming documentary i have over the weekend called "black in america." a teacher who is exposing some 7-year-old kids to colorism, explaining what it is and why it matters in this day and age. that's straight ahead.

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morning. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, a powerful earthquake strikes in japan, in an area that's still recovering from that deadly tsunami. "who's black," kind of trending on the internet this morning. and we'll talk about that, too. just 30 minutes away from the november jobs report, the economic recovery continuing? christine has that for us. >> that's right. we'll have to see what super storm sandy does to those numbers. we'll know for sure in 30 minutes. and chris christie talks superstorm sandy with bruce springsteen. we'll have that for you. a packed show for you this morning. michigan congressman, justin amiutomati aumash will join us, leonard curts and lauren ashburn and economist diane swonk will join

us when we talk about the job numbers. it's friday, december 7th and "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. our team this morning, ryan lizza, our washington correspondent for the new yorker, richard socarides is with us, former adviser to bill clinton. >> although some days he wishes he was. >> oh, wow! this is richard right here. new yorker.com joining us. that's will cain, people. we know that. our texan, resident texan and cowboy boot wearer. >> every day. >> blaze.com blogger. nice to have you all with us. zoraida sticking around as well. let's talk about that tsunami threat that's been lifted in japan. it was a terrifying moment out there. rocked by a 7.2 magnitude quake. i think that's our japan bureau, that camera.

the tremor hit off the coast. the building shaking. want to get right back to alex zolberg. the video i'm seeing are the cameras and recording how much the building is shaking. >> reporter: i apologize, i can't see exactly what you're looking at. we did send some video over. there's video from other buildings. we were sitting here in the bureau in the heart of tokyo on the ninth floor of our rather small building. it started shaking in a big way. it felt like you were suddenly on a boat. there's a huge sigh of relief in japan at this hour, it's just after 10:00 in tokyo. as you mentioned, tsunami warnings have been lifted. by all accounts, there are no significant -- there are no report reports of any significant damage from this earthquake. this is very good news. as you mentioned, this earthquake was centered in pretty much the same area of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that

hit in march of last year. soledad, i know you were there, covering that story. that earthquake triggered the tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people. this time around, as i said, a huge sigh of relief. the biggest wave, by all accounts, was three feet in height. we spoke to one woman up there in the tsunami zone and she said when the earthquake hit, her initial reaction was oh, no, not again. soledad, at this hour, all appears to be okay. just a few minor injuries here in japan. soledad? >> alex zolbert for us. people describe that when the sirens go off they basically have a few minutes to run up hill as fast as they can. when you're talking about elderly people, it's very scary. >> it is. i have friends who said it knocked out all communication. you couldn't get in touch with why your loved ones and find out if everybody was okay. >> it's been called off, so that's really good news. great to be able to update folks with that. other stories making news,

zoraida has that for us. >> egyptians are out in force again today, refusal to rescind his own decree that granted him sweeping powers. opponents say that his government has lost legitimacy. those killed in the violence wednesday. turkey's border with syria right now. this morning, russia's foreign minister said his country will brain storm with the united states and others on how to end the civil war in syria. top u.s. officials are concerned that the assad regime may opt to use chemical weapons against the rebels. >> the intelligence that we have raises serious concerns that this is being considered. >> president obama has warned syria not to use chemical weapons and reminded syria that, quote, the world is watching. "new york times" reporting this morning. speak of the house wants to solve the fiscal crisis face to

face with the president. we are 25 days away from the massive tax hikes. and congress breaks for the holidays in seven days. john boehner is asking top democrats in the house and senate to step aside so he and the president can negotiate one on one. cnn has not confirmed this report as of yet. people have different skill sets at different times. that's how new jersey governor chris christie explained his post-sandy praise for president obama. on "the daily show" christie seemed most excited to talk about another bromantic moment, his hug with hometown legend bruce springsteen. >> did you give him -- you also have to give this, the pat or did you just go slow dance? >> no, i went slow dance. >> you've got to be kidding. >> no, i went slow dance. >> you did? >> no pat. slow dance. >> christie would beat spring teen if the rock er ran for governor next year, polls show.

>> how funny has he been? >> he is a funny man. >> he has been like killing it. >> great moments. >> he is a real guy, being authentic. that's the debate men have. do you go with the one arm, with the pat? >> we have that all the time. will and i have this bromance going on. >> it was like his life was validated when he got bruce springsteen to say something nice. >> snl, he has been so funny. >> let's talk about something as equally as interesting, the fiscal cliff, shall we? we're going to talk to congressman justin amash, a republican from michigan. and he got -- was in for a little bit of a surprise earlier when he discovered that he was booted off the house budget committee. nice to have you with us, congressman. we appreciate your time. walk me through how you learned that you had been kicked off this very much of a big deal committee. >> thanks for having me on, soledad. i learned through news reports. so i started to hear the word on

monday and didn't hear anything from leadership monday, tuesday and finally i approached him on wednesday about it myself. >> this is your own party that booted you off. i know you went to -- took to facebook and posted this. i'm going to read it for folks. you said i have still not received a single call, e-mail or text from republican leadership confirming this story that you're booted off. i wouldn't have even learned about it if not for the news reports. i look forward to hearing from the party's leadership about why my record offends them. has anyone responded to your facebook posts where you're like, hello? anyone want to call me, fill me in? >> not directly. they talked about this potential score card that was used and republican leadership insisted that wasn't the main reason for booting people off committees but it's pretty clear they had a score card. if you were in support of more

government you got a positive score. if you were in support of less government you got a negative score, which seems completely contrary for what you would expect for republicans. >> that's certainly one line we've heard. you guys that lost your positions were too conservative or too tea party but others are saying because you guys went out of your way not only to vote against leadership but seemed like you were trying to embarrass them at times. what do you say about that? >> that's totally ridiculous. this is not a conservative versus liberal thing. there are people like me in congress who are out there, representing the vast majority of americans who want us to balance our budget. it's not a matter of who is willing to work with democrats or republicans. for example, i have a balanced budget amendment to the constitution that has 14 democratic co-sponsors. it's one of the most popular bipartisan budget proposals out there. it's not about who will work with democrats or who will work with republicans who are who is too conservative. it's about whether people are serious about getting things done to balance our budget. there are few of us who are very serious about it.

we're calling for things like reductions in pentagon spending. >> that's what you say. you say you have this plan. what leadership -- the message leadership is sending to you is that your plan is out of step with mainstream republican thought on this. don't you think they're entitled to decide who sits on their committees? >> no, absolutely not. i mean, at the end of the day, the american people sent us there to work on this debt problem. i'm certainly not out of touch with mainstream america. mainstream america believes we need to go there and balance this budget. >> you think the leadership is out of step with mainstream america? i mean either you are out of step with mainstream america or they are. >> they are. look at the kind of deals that are being talked about all the time. even this $800 billion revenue proposal. it's a drop in the bucket. every year we have a trillion dollar or more deficit. when we're talking about $800

billion in taxes over ten years, that's only a few days of spending every year. if we're going to talk about taxes -- i'm willing to discuss taxes and a lot of others are willing to discuss tax, then let's talk seriously about taxes. if we're going to talk about spending cuts, let's talk seriously about spending cuts. but we're not going to take care of this $16 trillion debt unless we do that. >> people have described what's happening in the gop as sort of a civil war. you have the tea party, sort of mainstream conservatives and then moderates, those that remain. and then there have been sort of calls, to fire, to get rid of john boehner. do you think that's going to happen? would you support that? >> well, i think there's a lot of unease in the conference. there's a lot of unrest at all levels. tea party versus moderate versus mainstream theme. people like me are out there, calling for reductions in

pentagon spending, calling for working with the democrats. if you look at the four people removed from their committees, we have been willing to work with democrats on a lot of these tough spending issues. >> would you support the re-election of the speaker? or do you think he should be fired? >> well, we're going to see how the next few weeks go and whether he is willing to make amends and put out that score card. let the american people see what he based the decision on. i think that's critical. we need to see what the decision was based on. the american people need to hear the truth. both sides need to work together. we've had enough of these games, partisan games in d.c. and enough of people sucking up to corporate lobbyists. we need to do what's right for the american people. >> that sounds like a no. >> i'm trying to figure out if it is a no. it is a yes/no question. if the vote were taken right now, would you support him or n not? >> right now i'm not very happy with the speaker. so let's see what happens over the next several weeks. let's put it that way.

>> congressman justin amash, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you, soledad. >> you bet. gun culture in the nfl. bob costas took a lot of heat when he made comments about gun control. did he it in the middle of the a game. today, players are speaking out as well. we'll talk about the controversy there. >> and all i want for christmas is a latina girlfriend. can you believe that? >> i love that. >> this billboard -- i don't -- is for real. who would want to date him with that? >> no kidding. >> we'll explain what is behind that. >> don't date me. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times.

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football fans got more than they bargained for this past sunday night when sportscaster bob costas took a moment to comment on the tragic murder/suicide of jovan belcher. here is what bob said.

>> our current gun culture ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy and that more convenient store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. handguns do not enhance our safety. they exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. >> wow! you can imagine those remarks set off a firestorm of criticism against bob costas, particularly from folks who support the second amendment and other folks who are conservative. it sparked a big debate about the boundaries that a journalist should or should not have as they're sitting on the air in the middle of a football game and what they can talk about. let's bring in leonard kurts from the daily beast and lauren

ashburn, day ily download. we need to come up with a nickname for you. >> do you think he was out of line? it was a small chunk of time. >> bob costas mishandled it, tried to deal with a polarizing topic in just 90 seconds. 24 hours after this horrible tragedy, he had the right to weigh in on this. >> no. >> knowing full well -- >> bob, people tune in to see bob costas as bob costas, not see him deliver a political rant. this is one of the nicest guys in the business. he is the face of the olympics. >> not coming out of left field, right? he hasn't decided to sit up and talk about the fiscal cliff, for example, and how he feels about it. he is talking about, in the context of a football game something that has just happened in sports to people who are well known and they're talking about a gun -- it's not not connected. >> it is connected to football because of the murder/suicide

that preceded it. maybe his emotions and the emotions that surrounded that could have gotten in the way. i think that average people at home want to tune in, they want to get in their barcolounger, eat their chips and watch their game. >> usa today, nfl with a gun, wealth and celebrity can make a player a target and they go on to talk about how a lot of the players need to be armed because once they become famous and rich, you know, people can go after them. >> my problem is that we can no longer wall off sports because all kinds of labor issues and domestic issues intrude. if you are going to be a sports commentator like costas. of course you lose your popularity if you weigh in on this, because half the people in this country disagree with you. >> rush limbaugh came on and said, look, his liberal bosses at nbc approved this.

so this now becomes a brand issue for nbc, which said it is not a partisan network, nbc news. so there is some economic -- >> msnbc. >> well, of course. >> just went to the white house, rachel maddow and company, visiting president obama. >> it seems like you're having a different debate. he has a right to go do this, even though i disagree with him. he should also pay the price, as you say, lauren, for what he did. if audiences turned off, they turn away. it's not that he lose his job. >> oh, my god, i agree with will cain. you said does he have the right. of course he has the right. he's a thoughtful, intelligent human being. >> not does he have the right but is it appropriate? >> you run the risk of backlash. >> sacrisanct place with sports. >> are you kidding me? >> no. >> get politics out of sports.

this country is so divided. >> i have bad news for you, the front page of usa today. >> where i used to work. >> i don't want my sportscasters editorial. >> he was quoting a sports -- >> no, he wasn't just quoting a sports -- >> he went on to make his own editorial point but it was clearly a conversation happening in the sports world around something that just happened. >> two people had just been killed. >> the damage is done that bob costas felt compelled to go on a couple of cable shows and say i'm not an anti-second amendment guy. i believe in your right to defend himself. this is all that he couldn't do by jamming that into 90 seconds. but clearly he was embracing the cause of gun control on some level. >> and on twitter, he got slammed. social media is so nasty. >> twitter is just nasty. we're out of time. i do need to come up with your nickname that's short, catchy.

something cute. we'll have that next time. thank you, guys. appreciate it. >> thanks. still ahead on "starting point" we'll talk about skin color. we're working on a documentary "who's black in america" and perceptions of skin color in this country. initiated. neural speeds increasing to 4g lte. brain upgrading to a quad-core processor. predictive intelligence with google now complete. introducing droid dna by htc. it's not an upgrade to your phone. it's an upgrade to yourself.

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more than 2,000 people are gathering at pearl harbor, symbolizing the attack that killed thousands. ceremonies got under way about 30 minutes ago. in union strong michigan, l lawmakers pushed through right

to work legislation during a lame session. it drew angry protests from union workers who blasted the gop plate. >> it terrifies me they're trying to pass this through quickly with no discussion from the other side, no understanding of what's important, the finer points and all the things this will affect. democracy is way too important to let it go, slide through like this. >> michigan's governor says he will sign a right to work bill when it hits his desk. ram tough all right, selecting the 1500 truck of their year, impressed with the truck's economy and posh interior as well. >> i like that. >> you like it? >> yes, i do. >> maybe they'll send us one. i'm kidding. just kidding. thanks, zoraida. in a few minutes we'll find out about the new jobs numbers. are we in recovery mode? and how does superstorm sandy figure into all of this? plus, come on, santa, this

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economists forecast 8.0%. ali velshi and christine romans are here to break it down and we'll be joined by diane swonk as well. tell me what we're looking at this jobs report number. >> want to take your ipod out? >> i'm listening to the latest -- >> what are you, 16? >> that's so weird. i thought the same he thing. hello? >> this will be an unusual jobs reason for two reasons. one gets the unemployment number and one gets the number of jobs created. they were taken in different weeks this year because of thanksgiving. the calls that were made to figure out the unemployment rate were a week earlier, which means some people affected by hurricane sandy didn't have power or weren't at home, won't have been reached. you may find a spread between the unemployment number and the jobless rate. sandy will have had an affect on this. what we're interested to know is whether or not the fiscal cliff fears had any affect on this. was there less hiring, anybody

laying off in anticipation of the fiscal cliff? that will be hard to determine. christine and i will look at the numbers when they come in to see if there's any impact of that. the affect of sandy, 86,000 fewer jobs than we otherwise would have had. we're looking at a much lower number. christine appears to have it right now. we are -- >> lowest unemployment rate since december '08. 7.7%. that's the unemployment rate. surprise there. i'm going to listen to the jobs part of it. >> that is unexpected. we were expecting the unemployment rate to go to 8.0, from 7.9 to 8.0. it's gone the other direction. >> 146,000 jobs created. >> double than what was expected. >> diane s wochlswonk, chief ec. 7.7% is the unemployment rate, 146,000 jobs that have been added. the estimates were completely

off. what are the implications of these numbers? >> well, certainly it's reassuring that sandy didn't have as big of an affect on the numbers. what's hard to tell is one of the points ali made earlier, which is how many people actually reached. we saw unemployment insurance claims surge in the wake of sandy and they may not have been totally included in some of this data as well because of electrical problems and people submitting on the survey. it's unclear that although the number looks a lot better than we expected, of whether it actually is capturing of the effects of sandy. there were so many interruptions and disruptions to reporting that my guess is that's probably part of the reason we're seeing this distortion. >> is that so unclear that eventually we'll throw this out? >> it will get revised, first of all. that's probably what it is. we need to get jack welch to say these numbers don't actually -- >> don't start, ali. >> really? are you trying -- >> no, we do not, ali. >> thank you, diane. i agree. >> even though there was a lot

of disruption from sandy, that we're doing better than we thought, right? maybe the economy is doing better than we thought? >> that certainly could be the case. >> the labor force declines. some people hopped out of the labor market, which might be one of the reasons why -- >> that might be sandy as well. >> diane, you were saying? i'm sorry. go ahead. >> these numbers are more -- less clarifying and adding more to the chaos than clarity because of sandy. and, you know, the underlying issues going on here, the breakdown. people jumping out of the labor force, that could actually be sandy or unemployment insurance claims are beginning to expire. we're seeing a lot of people taking retirement at 62. not because they can but because it's a bridge when they run out of unemployment. baby boomers, half the reduction in labor force participation rate in the last couple of years has been due to demographics alone. the other half very much a weak

economy. i think these are all important things. unfortunately, my guess is that november is just not going to give us a lot of clarity on where we're actually going. >> talk to me about the fiscal cliff and how the fiscal cliff could be factoring into these numbers that are a bit of a surprise off what they were predicting, even though it had a little asterisk next to it that it's going to be unclear. >> one thing we've seen from the fiscal cliff is that ceos have stepped up and gone into congress and washington and said, listen, deal with this issue. it's affecting us. we do know that in the third quarter the fiscal cliff did contribute to a decline in investment. althoughmanufacturing was weakened. it's not justified by the underlying fundamentals. you have to believe that part of that is due to the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff. and we've seen a number of companies coming out saying we're not firing but we're delaying hiring and delaying investment projects. delays in an already weak economy, you don't want

hesitation. it's a vicious cycle of hesitation and slow growth. kind of an opposite of what we saw in the '90s where you had certainty and caution thrown to the wind in robust growth. >> christine has one ear piece in, talking with us with the other ear. >> hurricane sandy, they say, did not affect the overall rate. they did not see that the overall rate was affected by hurricane sandy. the labor force declined a bid of 300,000 or so. retail trade was strong. construction was a little weaker. unchanged for the workweek, 43.4 hours. you still have long-time unemployed, an interesting number. that's been just stuck. >> yeah. >> that's 40% of the people unemployed that have been out of work for six months or longer. >> we're not -- you know, we can't make sense of what this means in the grand scheme of things. the market is liking it. dow futures are up 60 points right now. the market is saying, all right, it wasn't bad news. we're not quite sure that it's

as good news as it looks. under normal circumstances i would be sitting here saying we created 146,000, less than the previous month but a great number. you can't say that today. >> when they do revise it, diane, does that mean we have clarity on it? is it the kind of thing that it's confusing now, but we will get clarity or will it be the kind of thing that we'll eventually throw this month out and not focus on it? >> unfortunately i think we'll throw the month out because of problems in gathering the data. revisions happen over the course of years. several years down the road we'll know what these numbers mean. >> i feel really good about that. >> right, the reassuring thing. this is forecasting information in the past. it really is kind of -- this is when economics becomes an art and not a science at all. >> will you promise to come back on in two years and three months? >> i will promise to do that. hopefully, these numbers will look more cheer. what we'll be able to see then

is the trend. we do know there are upward revisions to the employment data coming through from early preliminary estimates that the labor department has given us. that may be better news next year when they release that data. >> diane swonk, nice to have you. >> can christine go back to listening to gangnam style and listening to the news off twitter? >> 13.2% for blacks, down a little bit. whites is 6.8. >> still double digits. >> structural disparity is so disturbing. zoraida sambolin has other storiy ies making news for us. >> ballistic missile by the north koreans. uss fitzgerald is a guided missile destroyer. navy officials won't say exactly

where they are located. north korea appears to be moving toward a missile launch later this mon month. retired navy sailor is facing espionage charges. robert patrick hoffman tried to pass classified information about tracking u.s. submarines to people he thought were with the russian federation. turns out they were undercover fbi agents. hoffman served 20 years in the navy and held a top secret security clearance. academy award winning actress angelina jolie meets with syrian refugees who finished that dangerous crossing into jordan. listened to family stories without water, food, safety or security. and check this out. this billboard in san diego features a picture of 63-year-old real estate mogul mark paskin and says all i want for christmas is a latina

girlfriend. his e-mail address is up there, too. he appeared on the reality show secret millionaire. the billboard is located in a mostly latina neighborhood and most people are finding it offensive. one young latina women who works nearby thinks this is perfectly fine. why not, if that's what he wants for christmas, soledad? >> i think it's not offensive for the reasons -- >> weird. >> it is. >> a little bit of -- >> it's really odd. >> all you need is one. and it worked. >> when your kids ask, how did you and mommy meet? i advertised on a billboard. >> why doesn't dough what all normal americans do. >> go to a bar. >> go online. >> and use latinagirlfriend.com? >> moving on, shall we? ahead on starting point, how young is too young to learn about bias in skin color? one teacher is teaching kids as

young as 6 and 7 about colorism, which is discrimination based on tone of skin. a new documentary "black in america" takes a look at that. tomorrow the boxer -- what's his name again? >> manny pacquaio. >> he has that fight. john berman talks to him at his gym about what's ahead. there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair

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black in america documentary will air sunday. it's the firs fifth one. we've been sharing stories about how we racially identify. we have a system that says light skin is better than dark skin and we have dozens of studies that confirm that fact.

on a mission to teach young children about colorism, discrimination based on skin tone but sometimes how she does it is shocking. take a look. >> same neighborhood, even in the same grade. >> recently graduating from the university of richmond. her passion is educating children about colorism. >> tell me about that. why didn't the teacher call on her? >> because she's ugly and dark. >> she is 7 years old and her mother is worried her little girl is already getting the message dark skin is bad. >> i think my skin is ugly. >> why do you think it's ugly? >> because i don't want to be dark. >> you don't want to be dark? >> no. i want to be light skinned. >> why? >> because light skin is pretty. >> you think so? >> yes. >> can somebody tell me what that means? >> my stance is teach the children what it is.

show them the history, make them aware of this issue so that when they go to school, when they go out in the world, they're armed with this information. >> because he wants to buy her, because her skin is lighter. >> you got to sit in the back. >> even among 6-year-olds, kiara is not afraid to shock. brown paper bag test. entering the classroom and compares their skin tone to a paper bag. >> let me see your arm. can you put your arm out for me? >> follow instructions. >> you go in, you have to sit in the back. >> lighter than the bag, you can sit in the front. it's a real test from the early 1900s, used by social organizations, churches and fraternities and neighborhood groups to decide who was light skinned enough to join. was it too extreme to do to little kids? >> no, i don't think so at all. i think the more interactive, the more shocking the activity is, the better because it's

going to stick with them. >> documentary "black in america" shares on sunday. i thought that was really shocking and if i were a parent in her classroom, i would have called, complained and taken my kid out. >> it's too young. it's just too young. >> 7-year-olds are too young. >> listen to what those kids are saying. they are already internalizing messages. >> where is that message coming from? that's a question i would ask. that doesn't make any sense to me that that little girl would, out of the clear blue -- >> she's not the only one. i have done the story four or five times and there are lots of little kids who are clearly getting messages that the color of their skin is not an attractive color. >> of course you do. >> as young people. >> those messages start at very early age, people get those. i think it's very appropriate to talk about that. >> at 7 years of age? >> yes. >> her point is that they're already talking about it and the exercise is shocking but since they're already dealing with it, they have to confront it. >> i don't think kids have the

ability to understand what that exercise is about. >> there's more to the study. i'm not plugging soledad's documentary. >> feel free to. >> but there is more to the story. >> we will be tweeting live at the same time the documentary airs sunday at 8:00 pm. manny pacquiao is ready for his fight against his arch rival, juan miguel marquez. is he ever going to fight the superfight with floyd m mayweather? ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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50 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "starting point." indicted by a federal grand jury

on seven new counts of bribery and extortion. mayor mack, his brother implicated in a kickback scheme for assessing less than its value. notre dame linebacker manti te' o winning the maxwell award as outstanding college football player, beating out johnny football manso, his chief rival for the heisman trophy, given out tomorrow night. the first defensive player to win the maxwell since 1980, soledad. >> a bit of a shocker. >> it is. it is. other sports news -- i love when i'm anchoring the sports news on the show. will cain really should be doing it. >> it's fight night in las vegas. you would have had trouble with that, pacquiao and marquez, pacquiao is a fighter by trait.

johnb berman has spent time wit pacquiao as he prepares yet for another epic match. >> not ready for prime. >> winning titles in eight different weight classes. >> when you hit the bag like this, do you see your opponents face? do you look in the bag and see marquez in the bag here? >> yeah. you imagine this is your opponent and you hit the head and his body. >> this will be his fourth fight against juan manuel marquez. all have been close. all have been tough victories for pacquiao. pacquiao's friend and long-time trainer, former boxer himself, he has been living with parkinson's disease for years. what's different about this fight, do you think? >> first two fights were really competitive, compelling fights and they fought great together. and then in the third fight he had a lot of personal problems going into the fight and we just didn't fight our fight.

>> one of your goals going into this fight is to be more aggressive. you're looking for a knockout here. why? >> i want this fourth fight to be the answer of all the doubts that are in his mind. >> do you feel there are other doubters besides him out there? >> his fans, you know, they are still claiming that they won the fight. >> a legend in boxing, promoting fights since the '60s, bob aram. >> why do you think this is so important to manny pacquiao? >> this is the fourth fight he has been with marquez. every fight has been an excite ing fight. every fight has been a close fight. every fight has been fought by both guys with some caution. this fight, each guy is determined to just throw caution to the winds and go after each other. >> are you concerned about how he's fading? >> become too nice a guy sometimes. >> in the ring or out of the ring? >> in the ring. and -- but i don't think he's fading yet. >> there's another boxer i want

to ask you about, that you get asked about a lot and that's floyd mayweather. do you think you'll ever fight him? >> i'm willing. >> you're waiting on him now? >> i'm waiting for him. >> if you had to bet a million bucks right now, would you bet on this fight ever happening? >> i would love it to happen i would do anything to make it happen but i don't believe it will happen. >> everyone wants to see that fight. i want to see that fight. i want to get him ready for that fight. i want the challenge. >> a legend back in the philippines, elected to congress there in 2010. >> why politics? >> i like politics to serve people. i'm the one who fights human trafficking, to stop that. i know the people in the philippines live in poverty and i want to help them. >> besides congress, you do a few other things, too. there's the singing ♪ sometimes when we touch the honesty's too much ♪ >> there's the acting. >> our hero is william wallace. william wallace from scotland.

>> if they ever do braveheart2 i you're in. what do you do for fun? >> i like sports. >> do you lose at anything? >> sometimes lose, sometimes win. >> you said you think there's only one or two fights after this for manny. >> yep. >> is there a lot of nostalgia, then, as you're sitting here training? >> it will be a sad day. it will be a sad day. i want to see manny pacquiao go out and go out on top. >> if manny is victorious, that will be a signature achievement for him in his career. >> i feel excited for the fight. and i'm ready. >> do you feel like you have something still left to prove? >> yes, i can still prove that i'm still young and i can give a good fight. tonight at midnight, cnn is airing hbo's pacquiao/marquez four, documenting their fight. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

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to start us off? >> so many interesting things to say. >> you just wasted ten seconds. >> richard socarides goes on his py python hunt in florida. which we will ensure that will happen. >> you can shoot a gun, right? >> yes. i have, you know, from archery practice. isn't that the same? archery practice? >> richard on a python hunt. >> watch anaconda first. just saying. go ahead, what's your "end point"? >> make it good, ryan. >> i was going to talk about the fiscal cliff but, you know what? let's just -- >> bill clinton says the fiscal cliff is going to be solved. don't worry. >> i can't stop thinking about the python hunt richard is going to go on. >> we're going to start to hear from president obama from new cabinet picks. it will be very interesting.